The four styles of the festive period

[JMAngel1]

I know some of you already read/follow midlife chic but she’s just done a really good blog post on the four styles of festive dressing which is really quite good.

1. Formal black tie events
2. Smart day wear - e.g Christmas Day, pantos, nice lunches
3. Casual day/ family events - e.g Christmas Markets, Santa visits, shopping, walks, tree buying.
4. Night out - but lower key than formal events.

Some of her choices are a little too twee for me “Fairy tale of New York” jumper, but the premise of her concepts is good and can be tweaked to individual style.

I may just like it because she mentions Sylvie from Emily in Paris who is my absolute style crush.

Anyway, it’s just helped me to focus my mind on what I really need. I have a tendency to panic buy Xmas outfits and this is helping me to take a breath and think about what I already have. Well worth a read.

www.midlifechic.com/updating-your-festive-wardrobe-for-2024/

I don't think the comments have been harsh. She's putting herself forward as a monetised, in the know, style guru.

Maybe at 65 I'm too old for "midlife style tips" but I haven't seen a single thing on the articles I looked at I would wear or I would admire on anyone else. Much of it reminds me of the look that "older women" had when I was in my 30s ( when I used to think, heaven forbid I'll end up wearing that)- and is now a look that's gone.

Predicting silver will be the metal next season’ is hardly Nostradamus [has silver ever gone away?]

It's all a bit cringe, but then pretty much all blogging is, and fashion editorial is dire. The problem is SEO—the more words you churn out the better your article performs, so you get reams of nonsense about what shoes to wear picking out a Christmas tree, and a load of guff family anecdotes to pad it out. It's a living, I suppose.

I’m 67 and I don’t think I’m too old for fashion, but overdone older woman is not the vibe I’m going for and that’s what I got from that article. I looked at her piece on body shape and she says she’s gone from classic to dramatic classic which seems to involve wearing a lot of garish colour which I don’t think is either current or youthful. I do have a few outfits planned for over Christmas but I’ll be wearing wellies to pick the tree.

@AgathaMystery Comments aren't harsh, and besides, if you're putting yourself in the public sphere, you need to be thick skinned and not be bothered. I sincerely doubt MLC gives a crap what any of us think, and good for her if that's the case.

I really like her insights into the retail industry, but I agree with others that her style really is pretty dated.

That's not my age is a great blog for women of 50+

I don’t think people have been harsh about her as a person. She’s putting herself out there and turning her family into a way of making money by marketing a heavily curated lifestyle in which she wears clothes, some of which are not nice imo, many of which will have been given to her or heavily subsidised.

I don’t give a toss about looking especially’in’ or not, but most people don’t live ball gown lives and would wear wellies and a coat to fetch a Christmas tree.

She might be lovely in real life and if she as my friend I’d tell her she looked amazing whatever she was wearing. I don’t have to like it for myself though.

She kind of lost me when she wrote that her son pulled her aside to say she had put a bit of weight on and didn't look good and she agreed he was right and went on a fucking diet! Wtf?!

She has always had a (forgive me for its usage) frumpy look. I did like her life rumination but in recent years it's gone awry. She is very much about the shilling now. And for the love of God change the blog name! So naff. Shame really as she does put effort in.

I didn't like her repeated mentions of 'being a mum of boys', and therefore she needed a different wardrobe to mums of girls.
Very out of touch.

Yes I can see that, it’s just a bit too much in your face. She might as well stand outside Tesco with a paper cup.

I do like her writing style and off the back of this thread I found myself reading some of her old posts - I always forget about them because she isn’t on social media much which is unusual.

The one about dressing for a festival/gig was awful - her and her husband were like Barbie and Ken in their pristine outfits, I’ve never seen anyone dress like that and I go to lots of music events.

I don’t think she knows her audience as well as she thinks she does.

What is mid life then? She must be 70s I guess, so planning on living to 140? I thought mid life would be 35 to 40. max and she definitely isn't that.

She’s late 50s, maybe 58/9 - I can remember her turning 50. Saying she looks in her 70s is the first comment on this thread that I have thought was harsh!

'Buy me a coffee' is basically the internet version of busking. It's a button you can press on multitudes of blogs and vlogs and YouTube channels, etc. You add your donation after clicking the Buy Me A Coffee button.

I have followed her blog for years, and I appreciate the good writing and her knowledge of the fashion industry. I also still like to take time to read a blog, instead of a 15 second look on insta. I think knocking down looks into categories is a good thing, but my lifestyle would only include family casual and nights out. No need for velvet dresses or tulle skirts here. But now's a good time to look at your wardrobe so you are prepared for whatever events you have, fancy or not.

While you won't find me in silver boots, I might add a bit of shine to an outfit to add interest. She showed some pewter western boots that were lower key but suitable enough. Maybe that was in a previous post.

Top tip, marks and spencer dark brown sheer tights look far more modern than sheer black ones. I can’t remember what the colour is something quarts maybe?. This is on white skin anyway.

I hate her style. Boring and mumsy.

Too be fair, I doubt she thought all her readers had four types of event to go to this Christmas - some will have one or two, others may have more - but between then there will be all those scenarios to cover

i too really appreciate her writing style, her brand knowledge, and her advice on dressing for body shape. But not the clothes, generally

she’s in a cleft stick, I guess : if Boden and John Lewis and White Stuff are the brands that will work with her, those are the clothes ahe’ll show. But that means the blog has ground its way into a very deep and middle of the road groove

Trouble is I don’t know anyone that age who wears Boden or White Stuff although some definitely did 10 years ago.

As I’ve said I like her writing style and intelligence but I think what irks me is that someone who clearly knows about clothes and retail is doing the usual blogger thing of pushing brands that pay her rather than ones her demographic would actually consider. I’m not wearing an electric blue tulle maxi for many occasions this year 🤦🏻

What other blogs do people like for a similar age/time of life? Wears My Money has some nice stuff, I don’t always love her personal style but she does good roundup blog posts and everything feels much more relevant to me.

I really like Wears My Money too. Can’t always afford the things she suggests but I like the style.

All of this. The weight thing is terrible. I’d have told him to stop commenting on women’s bodies as a good life lesson

chic is a really outdated word

Ive never heard of her before so just looked at insta and the white stuff promotion 😱

Lose respect for influencers who must know they look shit but will post photos of the must have items in a range just for £

Fran bacon (the fashion lift) who I usually like has started doing this more and will stand and show really awful clothes that aren’t at all her normal fashion vibe and describe them as a must have piece. I totally get about being paid to advertise but it’s incongruous with how insta pages that are about their everyday personal style work to me.

I agree with the posters who say her clothes are drab and boring . Also what is the point of showing last season's clothes .
If you liked that particular item you wouldn't be able to buy it anyway.
To me there wasn't anything that would take your breath away .

I can't get on board with leather leggings to pick up a Christmas tree. Wouldn't they get scratched?

Anyway, it was interesting to follow the link, a window into another world, but I think I'll stick with my Christmas dressing, which would probably horrify her. I'm going to keep wearing my holly frock and Christmas earrings. They make me happy, and I think the bottom line for style choice is that if you feel happy in it, you look better.

@Questionary There's nothing I loathe more than a stand and show/new outfit at a snap of the fingers. As such, I find Fran/The Fashion Lift and another whose name I can't recall unwatchable. And when I do, it's more a hate watch.

I doubt I'm the target audience for any of the women mentioned in this thread. Possibly, this is what makes them all the more painful to read/watch.

I think alot of influencers of a certain age fall into the trap of trying to dress for middle age or older ladies and that really shouldnt matter at all.
I get dressing for your body shape or personal style but why pigeon hole yourself as a certain age?

I think MLC is getting a hard time here. She's a good bit older than me, and I can't remember how I came upon her blog, but when she started it she was all about finding herself and her style again after the wilderness years with small kids in a country setting after living in London. Gradually it's evolved into a commercial enterprise, and she makes money from it in addition to her actual job.

I don't especially enjoy the sponsored content she posts, and agree that some of the brand partnerships are a poor fit, but credit where credit's due, it's not just endless affiliate links and she puts time and effort into writing copy and taking photos. My own style is much more aligned with Wears My Money mentioned up thread, but I honestly cringe at her posts which are "my season's picks from X brand" and just 50 affiliate links without even any text around them. Influencers earn approximately 10% of sales from any click through (site dependent). That cookie stays on your machine for approximately 30 days depending on which site is linked, so if you click through and buy an air-fryer from an initial Amazon link, then a few Kindle books, and later a bag of cat litter, and then a set of saucepans, and go back for some vitamins, and pick up an electric toothbrush on payday and so on over the course of that month, it really adds up! I would argue that MLC at least works for the money she earns.